I am really excited for this one. I've never built anything this complex before. Should be fun!

Power will be a DLE30 I have on the shelf (tail will be reinforced, and will be purchasing TNT single piece gear). It might be a little over-powered and may require some weight up front to balance (strange combination, but the research seems to indicate it's true).

Finish will be Solartex with rib stitching from www.pink-it.com, then painted with Rustoleum in the colors of the prototype on the box. I like the looks of the plane on the box, plus this way I get to use the stock decals.

Since the tail will be completely sheeted, won't the cross bracing be redundant? The sheeting should perform the function of the bracing as well as adding rigidity overall, kind of like a semi-monocoque structure. If that's the case, can I leave the braces out to make it simpler/a bit lighter?

Sure am enjoying this build. I've done a couple of smaller, easy planes lately, and I had a long somewhat tedious scratch build before that. It's nice to dig into something that is well engineered, easy to put together, but meaty and not over too quickly.

Believe me -it won't be over too soon...I build one every so often , then swear I'll never do another....But that was the biggest reward I've gotten, when it WAS done.

The toughest parts were the wing rib "egg crate" slots, which are on a compound angle in the spars.....I fabricated a sanding board with sandpaper on both sides,and sanded vertically the rib openings,which slowly yielded a good fit.

A hand held hacksaw blade cut slots for the thin plywood spar reinforcements and dihedral joiners..which I passed over, originally..

Yes the extra bracing in the stab is redundant, when sheeting the stab.

The extra $100 bucks for fiberglass parts is money WELL spent.
The wing struts are window dressing, unsecured at the bottom (not an omission)...

But I missed the 1/8" for the TE and cut the hole oversize. Also got the length wrong:

Oops!

But I used the piece I cut out to add some material back in and got a decent fit:

After that the other side went much better:

And...done!

It's rough sanded, but per the instructions I did not round the leading edge. FWIW, when I fit the right side, bottom sheet in and it lined up perfectly, I was so excited I yelped. Man I'm a dork. But to see your skills improving with each step really is encouraging. Such fun.

I just finished sheeting a wing I designed myself..And I know the feeling you're talking about.
I'm making a prototype model of a full scale prototype, and it's under weight and over strength.....just what everyone dreams about.

I just finished sheeting a wing I designed myself..And I know the feeling you're talking about.
I'm making a prototype model of a full scale prototype, and it's under weight and over strength.....just what everyone dreams about.

That's amazing! Congrats...it is truly a dream when a plane is coming out that way. Here's to low wingloading and high strength!

LH Elevator is finished...so much fun build this plane. The structure is so rewarding and the pieces are so much bigger than what I am used to working with. I need a break from balsa dust and CA fumes!